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Visit a forested area that’s not near a city, and you’ll see all sorts of lichens decorating trees and rocks. But if you visit an urban area or walk alongside a highway roaring with traffic, you won’t find very many lichens. As a matter of fact, Downtown Boston is a lichen desert. Lichens get nutrients from […]
If flowers are commonly placed on a loved one’s final resting place, why shouldn’t lichens be allowed to reside on that loved one’s gravestone? After all, a lichen on a gravestone occupies a branch on the tree of life considerably closer to the branch occupied by that loved one than a chrysanthemum. Plus, that lichen […]
“The Fells is a fantastic habitat where we can bring different pieces of the (ecological conservation) puzzle together and lead people to be part of this story as well” Caitlin recently reached out to EwA for an interview about its Fells’ Citizen Science program. We invited Caitlin to join one of our fieldwork sessions to […]
Attracting & Retaining Citizen Scientists Some conservation citizen science organizations run projects that can be quickly carried out by citizen scientists without supervision. And for those organizations, a common practice is to motivate people with a few good training events. Then, we encourage our citizen scientists to organize themselves and do the work individually or […]
Even Scientists Take Selfies with Wild Animals. Here’s Why They Shouldn’t. One of the great things about being a biologist is getting to work in the field and connect with wildlife. Through my career, I have enjoyed many unforgettable close encounters with various species, including turtles, birds, marine mammals, invertebrates and a lot of fish, […]
Why Men Trophy Hunt The killing of Cecil the lion (Panthera leo) ignited enduring and increasingly global discussion about trophy hunting [1]. Yet, policy debate about its benefits and costs (e.g. [2,3]) focuses only on the hunted species and biodiversity, not the unique behaviour of hunters. Some contemporary recreational hunters from the developed world behave […]
“The more you are willing to examine your own assumptions and beliefs—and holds the possibility that you may be wrong—the more you can truly understand” (from The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling) Being a naturalist basically means being on a quest for knowledge (and having fun while at it!). There is such wonder […]
A friend and I were chatting ‘over’ ethics. The context was our species’ fascination of a limitless growth model, showcased for instance in our expectations with respect to our human biology (e.g., our quest for biological immortality), as well as exhibited in our modern economies and business practices. I remarked about our difficulties at defining […]
Our enthusiasm and indulgence for animal captivity is changing yet very slowly. But we can accelerate our pace, because it can only be a win-win for science, for the animals, and us as moral individuals… ‘Are zoo animals happy? There’s a simple empathy test we can apply‘ is a very good piece of journalism on a […]
Although today the American society seems deeply torn apart by cultural, geographic, racial and class differences, still there is more that unites us than divides us, and this includes few environmental views and concerns… An opinion piece. Today the U.S. government decided against the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.). It places at its head a man who is no less […]
